The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Prada SpA returned to profit in the second half of 2020 amid a recovery in Asia, joining other luxury brands in bouncing back from the worst of a pandemic-induced slump.
Earnings before interest and taxes will turn positive in the last six months of last year after a deficit in the first half, the Italian fashion company said in a statement Tuesday.
Prada has been focused on reducing its sales via wholesalers in order to better control handbag pricing of handbags under its flagship and Miu Miu labels. Its own outlets now account for 90 percent of overall sales. The company is also ending seasonal discounts in a bid to boost its aura of exclusivity and profit margins.
Luxury brands found it hard at the start of the pandemic to slash spending as fast as revenue slumped because of their heavy fixed costs. Retail sales fell on average 6 percent at constant exchange rates in the second half, with Europe bearing the brunt because of a lack of tourists. The Asia-Pacific region, meanwhile, outperformed thanks to China.
By Angelina Rascouet
The Hood By Air co-founder’s ready-to-wear capsule for the Paris-based perfume and fashion house will be timed to coincide with the Met Gala in New York.
Revenues fell on a reported basis, confirming sector-wide fears that luxury demand would continue to slow.
IWC’s chief executive says it will keep leaning into its environmental message. But the watchmaker has scrapped a flagship sustainability report, and sustainability was less of a focus overall at this year’s Watches and Wonders Geneva.
The larger-than-life Italian designer, who built a fashion empire based on his own image, died in Florence last Friday.